One Side of the Mirror  Memories
by baka black
Summary: Kamishiro Karou is an otaku without much direction in his life. When a new student transfers in, his life changes drastically. As he notes, his life is becoming like a manga. Part 1 in a 2-part fanfic. Takes place in the Japan Otowa. Rated T for no reason
1. 1 Beginnings and The New Student

First, though somewhat unnecessary:

**1st Ef Fanfic!**

* * *

Hello, all. This is my second fanfic (1st was for Negima). Most of the characters are original, mostly the setting and some of the characters are from the original work. Please comment.

**Ef-A Fairy Tale of the Two is the product of _Minori_ **

* * *

**Chapter 1: Has My Life Turned into a Manga?  
**

A woman looking at the passerby's from her comfortable position in the church.

Memories of the town she always loved pass by

Her own life has been fulfilled

Yet she still has something else to do

Can you remember me?

* * *

"Man, why did class duties have to take so long?" Kamishiro Karou complained as he dragged his bag behind him. He was eager to get back home and take a break and read some manga if he had the time.

As he walked on, his gaze passed to the church. This place had always confused him; though there were not many Christians in the area, they had somehow found the need to build such a large, beautiful church.

"Do you like snow?"

Karou turned around and saw a girl with light blue hair leaning on the gate outside the church. She was a bit shorter than he was and was wearing a nun outfit.

She pulled her dark blue hair behind her ear and smiled at him. "I always look forward to the snow when it comes to this city. It always makes everything look beautiful."

He was getting unnerved by this random person and her odd talks.

* * *

A small glance at his cell phone told him that it was already 7:30; that meant that he would be back at his house by 8 if he hurried. He immediately ran without any words.

Unfazed, the nun called after him. "My name is Amamiya Yuuko. What's yours?"

"Kamishiro Karou!" he called back without stopping.

Watching him already moving forward, Yuuko giggled to herself. "Looks like my job isn't over yet. I look forward to seeing you again, Karou-kun."

* * *

When Karou got to the shopping district of Otowa, he slowed down to a walk. He liked to observe everything around him in this part of the city. The buildings, the street, the cars, and the people. Each item he saw, he wondered how he might be able to draw it. The color, the shading, the thickness of the lines, each by itself would mean nothing, yet put together, they looked like the art of the masters.

* * *

"I'm home," he announced as he opened up the door to his apartment. As expected, there was no one there. Karou's family had moved down to the other Otowa in Australia, leaving him to finish high school and then decide what to do with his life.

Though most people would feel a bit lonely, Karou merely sighed and threw his bag on his bed. He decided to take out one of his sketchbooks and try drawing some of the things he had seen outside.

As usual, he found that he could barely recall the people and scenes he had seen and transport it to the paper. However, one image had stayed in his head, the nun standing outside of the church.

Maybe it was something about her outfit, or maybe it was her hair. There was no doubt that there was something about her that allowed him to draw her in surprisingly deep detail.

Karou turned on his computer, and while waiting for the machine to boot up, finished his homework. The first thing he did was check his emails. As usual, there was the email from his parents asking the necessary questions to show that they hadn't forgotten him. There was also an email from one of his classmates, something about a student transferring in tomorrow. And then, he saw that Aizawa Sora was online for chatting.

_How are you?_ Karou typed down.

_Fine. Thanks for the manga volumes, I just finished them._

_ No prob, did you see the scenery in that one chapter I told you about?_

_ Yeah! Thanks for showing me that. I think I can get it right, but seriously, some of these backgrounds are hard to draw. :p_

_ Lol, tell me about it. If it's difficult for you, then it's most likely impossible for me. _

Aizawa Sora was Karou's pen-pal from the other Otowa in Australia. His parents had been friends with Sora's parents, so they had gotten in touch via the internet and mail. They both shared an interest in art and frequently talked deep into the evening chatting about manga and art.

_Crap, my parents are bothering me about staying on the computer for too long. Gotta go. At least you don't have to worry about curfews._

_ That sucks, talk to you tomorrow. I swear that the next package will amaze you._

_ You're on._

With Sora offline, Karou was bored stiff. He decided to study for his classes, for once, and slept without eating dinner.

* * *

"Hello, my name is Hiteyoshi Haruka. Nice to meet you all." A girl in a new school outfit bowed in front of the class.

"Ou!" Almost every guy in the class ogled at her.

With light blue hair tied in a neat ponytail and a figure that seemed to fit well in the school's uniform, there was only one word in Karou's mind which could fit this girl: moe.

"_Wait a minute,"_ he stopped himself, _"Usually, in a manga, the transfer student ends up in the seat in the back corner furthest from the door. Which is right next to…"_

Karou then looked at the seat behind him. The seat he was thinking about was right behind his.

He then facepalmed and brought his head down. He didn't know whether he should laugh or scream at the gods. It seemed like his life was about to get interesting.

The teacher then stepped up and scanned the classroom for a place to put Haruka. "Let's see. Why don't you sit back there? Right behind Kamishiro Karou-san."

"Hai." Haruka then walked down the aisle and stopped beside Karou's desk. She turned to him and gave him an angelic smile. "Nice to meet you, Kamishiro-san. Take care of me, okay?"

"Yah," he half-heartedly replied. Right now, his mind was in a storm.

* * *

"_Great, my life has just become a school-life manga. Where will the story go? Will it become some gag-manga, or will it become some romantic manga? Going by previous works, the romance route is the most-likely candidate, but, then will it end up well or bad? And why do I feel like I've just become the main character? Doesn't that always happen in manga? The guy the new-girl sits behind becomes the main character? Just what I needed, more stress."

* * *

_

Immediately after class ended, the students in the class and the neighboring classes were swarming around Haruka. From all around came the questions:  
"So where are you from?"

"What's your number?"

"How was your previous school?"

"How about eating lunch with us?"

"What are you three sizes?"

"Where are you living right now?"

* * *

Karou sighed; the people buzzing around Haruka were bumping into him and annoying him with their unceasing barrage of questions.

"_I wonder why the character in front of the transfer student never complains about this in manga?"  
_

Tiring of the bumping and noise, he stood up and decided to walk out. Obviously, the best way out would be through the crowd around Haruka, so there he went. The students around Haruka stood away to let him through, giving her a little break.

As he passed behind Haruka, he whispered to her. "Annoying, aren't they?"

"Not really, thank you for the break though," she replied and gave him another smile.

Not that he would openly admit it, Karou had become somewhat interested in Haruka as well. He just thought it wouldn't leave a good impression if he just joined in on the crowd.

* * *

As he pulled out his shoes from the lockers, Karou felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around and saw Haruka.

"Oh, hey Hiteyoshi-san. Do you need anything?"  
"Yes, can you walk me home?"

* * *

"_Is this usually what happens in dating-sims?"

* * *

_

Karou actually planned to go straight home, so he didn't really feel like taking a detour. However, this was a good chance to learn more about Haruka.

"Sure," he replied.

Haruka clapped her hands together and cheered. She then grabbed his hand and began dragging him out.

* * *

Meanwhile, someone was spying on the dialogue. Minase Setsuna, in the same class as Karou and Haruka, peeked out, and saw Haruka grab Karou's hand and saw them run out.

Her hands trembled as did her brown hair.

"_Why is that new student choosing Karou-kun? Couldn't she have chosen someone else? And I had finally prepared myself to ask him to walk **me** home."_

Obviously, she likes our protagonist. Love triangle, anyone?

* * *

"And here's my house! Thanks for escorting me." Haruka turned around and pointed at where she lived.

Karou could not reply for the simple fact that it was too coincidental to be true.

They were both standing outside the apartment Karou stayed in.

* * *

"_You're kidding me, right? There's no doubt. My life has officially become a school-life manga."

* * *

_

"Ara? Is there something wrong?" Haruka's face came uncomfortable close to his.

"Umm, nothing, nothing really. Let's go inside."

"Ah, you don't need to."

"No, it's fine. My place is here too."

"Eh, really? Then, let's see where our rooms are?"

* * *

"_Are you freaking serious? This is definitely too coincidental to be true."_

Karou stared at Haruka's room number, 209, and rushed to the railing to look down to the story below. His own room number, 109, stared back at him. Haruka's room was right above his.

"Is something wrong?" Haruka asked.

"Umm…how to say this...Your room is right above mine?"

"Really? Let me see." Instead of being suspicious, Haruka looked absolutely ecstatic. "Then that means that Kamishiro-san and I are neighbors too. Well then, neighbor-san, please take care of me."

She giggled and entered her room.

* * *

Karou slumped on the railing and looked up at the darkening sky.

"She's a really pretty girl, isn't she?"

"You could say that," Karou replied and then nearly jumped off. He turned and saw that Yuuko was casually sitting on the railing next to him.

"You, the one at the church," he realized where he had seen her before.

Yuuko lightly tapped his head. "I have a name you now. Repeat after me: Amamiya Yuuko."  
"Sorry. Amamiya-san."

"That's better. So, what do you think of her?"

"Do you have nothing better to observe than the life and times of a high-schooler?"

"I'm just someone who loves this town." Yuuko then looked up to the sky and sighed. A passing breeze gently lifted her hair.

As if just remembering something, she dug into her robe and pulled out a key. She then dropped it into Karou's hands.

Karou held up the key to get a better look at it. From the looks of it, it had been through a lot, but he couldn't tell what it opened.

"Umm, Amamiya-san. What does this key open?"

She smiled. "A place where wishes come true."

"Huh?"  
"Otherwise known as the roof of Otowa High School."

"Oh." Karou held up the key so that it was illuminated by the emerging moon.

* * *

He had heard of this key to the roof, which was supposedly passed down to only one person per generation. There were many rumors about what the key was capable of doing, but no one had seen it for a while.

* * *

"Amamiya-san, who was the person who had it las-"

He turned and saw that Yuuko was gone, as abruptly as she had come.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

And that's the first chapter. Mostly introductions though. Please comment.**  
**


	2. 2 If only School Life were a Manga

Hello all. Second chapter hath arrived.

First note: I forgot to mention this last chapter, but all character names are in "last name, first name". So Hiteyoshi is Haruka's last name while Kamishiro is Karou's last name.

Second note: Yuuko is awesome.

* * *

**Chapter 2: If only School Life were a Manga**

Karou stretched and looked out the window. Looking back at him, upside-down, was Haruka's face.

"Good morning" she mouthed through the window.

Karou sighed and pulled the curtains across, blocking Haruka's face from view.

"Mou! Open up! Don't you want to say hello?" Haruka cried through the glass and also banged on the window.

Sighing in resignation, Karou opened the windows and shouted back, "Don't randomly stare at people when they just wake up! People will think you're creepy!"

Instead of backing down, Haruka leaned back and brought her head forward, banging him on the head. This action also had the unforeseen consequence of making her fall through Karou's window as well.

"Kya!"

_Thump!_

"God damnit!"

* * *

Five minutes later, Haruka was sitting on the floor in front of Karou.

Karou sighed and reiterated Haruka's explanation. "So you're saying that you decided to give me a wake-up call by hanging upside down from the balcony railing, with your feet, and staring at me through the window."

"Hai," she confirmed.

_"There's something screwed up about this situation. I swear there's a manga which has had this situation before."_

Haruka stood up and went to Karou's kitchen. He heard the sound of the tap water running and his refrigerator opening.

He burst into the kitchen and saw Haruka about to start the stove.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait Wait! What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast and our bentos for school." Haruka's reply pretty much added, _"Isn't that obvious?"_

"No, there are so many things wrong about this situation that we could make a manga about this…"

"A manga?"

"…It fulfills all the criteria: the transfer student, conveniently living close together, romantic comedy situations. It's perfect…"

Seeing that Karou had forgotten to tell her why she couldn't cook their meals, Haruka decided to continue making their meals while Karou monologued.

Karou and Haruka both walked out of his room and began walking to school.

While Haruka seemed nonchalant, even happy, that they were walking together, Karou's mind was in turmoil.

_"This is too obvious, too obvious. If anyone sees us, they'll assume that either we live close together, or are already going out, most likely the latter."

* * *

_

Minase Setsuna watched in horror as she saw Karou walk into class, chatting with Haruka.

_"Karou-kun's already this familiar with Hiteyoshi-san? What will I do? It's only been one day and she's gone further with him that I have."_ she despaired.

* * *

During lunch break, Karou put his books back into his bag and felt his hands touch something cold and metallic. He fished out the object and saw that it was the key Yuuko had given him the day before. She had said that it opened the door to the school roof.

Deciding that he had nothing better to do, Karou decided to try the key.

Karou walked up the stair to the roof. Though he had passed by this staircase many times, he had gone up only once, only to find a locked door.

Now that he was walking up with the key in hand, he felt different, almost excited to see this rumored roof.

* * *

The end of the stairs came, and Karou came face-to-face with the door to the roof. He uneasily slid the key in and turned. A click told him that this key was the real one.

He took a deep breath-this moment seemed somewhat momentous- and pulled. The door wouldn't open.

Confused, he pulled a few more times; it wouldn't open.

A stupid thought passed his mind, and Karou _pushed_.

* * *

"Hello again, Karou-kun."

"Hello, Amamiya-san."

Karou stepped out and saw that Yuuko was sitting near the edge of the roof. Her smiling face was faced towards him.

She smoothed her dress and stood up.

"It's a nice view from here, isn't it?"

Now that she mentioned it, Karou looked around. From the top of the school, he could see a stunning view of Otowa town. He could even spot the church where he had first met Yuuko.

"Wow, this really is a great view. Thanks, Amamiya-san... Amamiya-san?"

Karou looked around, but Yuuko had disappeared while he was exploring the view.

Curious, Karou went to the edge of the roof and looked down. There was nothing except for some athletes on the field.

_"Did she parachute out of here or did she sneak past me down the stairs?"_

"Ah, this is where Karou-kun went."

Haruka, who was taking advantage of the lunch break to explore the campus, came up and waved at him.

"Did you see someone in nun clothes go by you?" Karou asked, still curious about Yuuko's disappearance.

Haruka came up to him, worry written across her face, leaned forward, and lightly touched Karou's forehead.

"Nun clothes? Are you sure you're all right? There was no one going down the stairs."

* * *

While Karou was sweating from having a girl touching his forehead, Setsuna, who had followed Haruka to see where she was going, opened the door to the roof. The sight which greeted her was Haruka and Karou nearly face to face. Since Haruka's face was turned away from her, her imagination made up for her lack of depth perception, and she assumed the worst.

_"Karou-kun and Hiteyoshi-san are already k-k-ki-kissing?"_

Obviously, she was misunderstanding, but as the audience, we can only laugh/pity her.

Heartbroken, she closed the door with a bang and ran down the stairs.

* * *

Back in class, Setsuna gathered all of her willpower and budged herself in front of Karou's desk.

_"I can't allow this. As Karou-kun's lover and as the Incho (class representative) I cannot allow him to do…stuff like that with girls so openly at our school."_

She took a deep breath and said, "Umm…Kamishiro-san…"

Karou looked up. "Eh? What is it, Incho-san?"

* * *

_"Why does he always call me 'Incho-san'? It's so unfamiliar. If he would at least call me by my last name, or something cute like 'Incho-chan' would be better"

* * *

_

"…Incho-san? Do you need something?"

Karou's words snapped Setsuna back to reality. However, she was so panicked that she was now waving her hands around wildly.

"Umm…umm…ah…you shouldn't do stuff like that in the open, you know," she was finally able to stammer out.

"…What are you talking about?"

"Umm…you know…like…" Setsuna's voice began to trail off, and she finally hung her head in defeat. She was still too shy to talk to Karou.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karou was examining Setsuna's expression with rapt attention.

_"Yes, I've been having problems drawing that emotion on my characters' faces for a long time. The look of pathetic and utter defeat…perfect."

* * *

_

When school ended, Karou packed his bags as fast as he could and tried rushing out before anyone got any weird ideas about him and Haruka. He could sense that she would ask him to walk her home again.

However, his efforts were in vain. Waiting patiently for him at the school gates was Haruka. When she saw him, she flashed him a glittering smile.

"Hello Karou-kun!"

"Hello Hiteyoshi-san."

Haruka's face immediately look hurt, and she pouted.

"Mou, you should call me by my first name. Come on: 'Haruka-chan'."

"No," he replied in a deadpan voice.

Although his attempt to get home without any misunderstandings had failed, Karou decided to just give in. They both went to the apartment together.

* * *

When they reached the apartments, Karou was surprised to see a truck waiting outside. He turned a questioning look to Haruka.

"Is that yours?"

"Of course."

_"Why would one person need so much stuff as to fill a whole truck?"

* * *

_

_ Karou: Yo Sora. How's your day been?_

_ Sora: Pretty good. So, how is that transfer student you told me about yesterday?_

_ Karou: I swear, it feels like my life has become some gag-manga. Her room is right above mine, this morning, she burst into my room through the window, and she made me breakfast and lunch._

_ Sora: Lucky~ I'm jealous._

_ Sora: So, how's that storyline coming along?_

_ Karou: I still need to think of some bad endings and some flags as well._

_ Sora: At least that's further than I went, I only finished the drawings of two of the characters.

* * *

_

Karou was about to reply when he heard some creaking and thumping above him. He was guessing that Haruka was still moving her stuff in.

* * *

_ Karou: Anyways, did you get through _Aria_?_

_ Sora: Yeah, I really loved that series. Thank you. I've already started to practice some backgrounds from that series.

* * *

_

Karou smiled. Sora was a big fan of architecture and also loved manga. That's why Karou usually sent Sora some manga volume with good background so Sora could practice.

Upstairs, Karou heard a "Kya!" and then a large crash that came from his bedroom.

* * *

He quickly turned off the chat with Sora and burst into his room. A cloud of dust smacked him in the face, and he coughed and waved his hand to try clearing the view.

When the dust finally settled, Karou got a good look at what used to be his room. There, littered across the floor, were some wood boards, traveling bags, and a lot of dust.

He looked up and saw a gaping hole on his roof. Looking down was Haruka. She giggled weakly and put her hand behind her head.

"Looks like I shouldn't stack my bags in one big pile."

* * *

**Last Notes:**

Aria is a manga which is famous for its backgrounds. Really turns manga into an art-style.

Please comment on what you thought of this chapter.


End file.
